THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 

580     #: 
F452 

no.  1-10 


juSfiH&BLui.-i*'' 


Return  this  book  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below. 


University  of  Illinois  Library 


DEC  1 0  1! 


Li6i— nv. 


u 


n- 


WHEAT 


ONIVERSITV  OF  UlMtt  UBRMT 
MJG  16  1922 


<^ 


; 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 


CHICAGO 
1922 


WVEBSmr  OF  JLLW0I8  LIBRM 

AUG  16  1922 


CO 


tf) 


'Willi 


o 

^Cfl&w^fc.   *  *    '^•^ 

0) 

ftHtjf^ 

Q 

r- 

(D 


m 


CO 


530 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

DEPARTMENT  OF  BOTANY 
Chicago.  1922 


Leaflet  Number  3 


Wheat 

Mankind  has  undoubtedly  always  used  the  seed  of 
wild  grasses  for  food.  Some  of  these,  indeed,  furnish 
very  fair-sized  grain  and  from  such  our  cultivated 
cereals  are  unquestionably  derived,  though  we  cannot 
now  always  trace  them  to  their  respective  wild  proto- 
types. An  example  of  such  a  large-grained  wild  grass 
is  the  recently  discovered  Wild  Emmer  of  Palestine, 
which  is  considered  by  some  to  represent  the  original 
wild  form  from  which  certain  of  our  cultivated  wheats 
were  derived. 

Among  the  cereal  grasses,  wheat  is  by  far  the 
most  important  to  the  western  world.  It  was  first 
brought  to  this  continent  into  Mexico  by  the  Spaniards 
in  1520,  later  into  New  England  and  into  Virginia  by 
the  early  settlers.  In  Europe  and  in  Asia  it  has  been 
grown  for  thousands  of  years.  In  Europe  it  has  been 
discovered  in  various  places  in  remains  of  the  later 
Stone  Age.  It  has  been  grown  about  the  eastern  end 
of  the  Mediterranean  and  in  Mesopotamia  for  at  least 
five  or  six  thousand  years.  It  was  cultivated  in  Baby- 
lonia and  has  been  found  in  ancient  Egyptian  graves. 
To  the  far  east  it  was  grown  in  ancient  China,  to  the 
south  in  India,  and  in  Abyssinia  in  Africa.  Its  pres- 
ence in  several  varieties  even  in  Europe  in  pre-historic 
times  and  its  ancient  wide  distribution  would  seem  to 
be  evidence  that  the  beginning  of  its  cultivation  be- 

r  longs  to  the  earliest  history  of  mankind.  Unless  the 
cultivation  of  wheat  was  undertaken  independently  in 
the  various  regions,  its  place  of  origin  must  be  con- 

[17] 


2  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

sidered  to  coincide  approximately  with  the  location  of 
a  probable  early  center  of  dispersion  of  the  human 
race  in  the  old  world.  This  is  generally  placed  in 
central  Asia,  perhaps  somewhat  to  the  westward, 
about  the  region  of  eastern  Turkestan  where  climatic 
conditions  in  the  time  of  primitive  man  are  likely  to 
have  been  more  favorable  than  they  are  now. 

Some  primitive  wheats  are  still  grown  to  an  ex- 
tent in  Southern  Europe.  These  are  Einkorn,  Em- 
mer  and  Spelt.  They  are  stamped  as  primitive  by 
certain  characteristics  which  they  share  with  the  wild 
grasses  of  the  genus  Triticum  (an  old  Latin  name  for 
wheat)  to  which  they  belong.  Like  these  they  have  a 
fragile,  articulated  head  which  breaks  into  segments 
on  threshing,  and  their  mature  grain  refuses  to  sepa- 
rate readily  from  its  envelopes.  In  the  other  culti- 
vated wheats  the  axis  of  the  head  is  stout  and  not 
articulated,  resisting  breakage,  while  the  ripe  grain 
comes  away  easily  and  clean. 

In  the  illustration,  Nos.  1,  2,  and  3  represent  wild 
grasses  related  to  wheat.  Nos.  4,  5,  and  6  are  the 
primitive  cultivated  wheats. 

No.  4.  Einkorn,  one-grained  wheat,  is  so  called 
because  it  has  a  single  seed  in  each  division  (little 
spike  or  "spikelet")  of  the  head.  It  yields  a  scanty 
crop  but  will  grow  in  stony  ground  and  is  still  culti- 
vated to  a  small  extent  in  mountainous  South  Europ- 
ean regions — notably  in  Spain.  It  has  been  found  in 
the  remains  of  the  lake  dwellers  of  the  stone  age.  The 
wild  form  still  grows  in  Southeastern  Europe — e.  g. 
in  Serbia. 

No.  5.  Emmer,  also  known  as  starch  wheat  or  two- 
grained  spelt,  is  another  bristly  or  awned  form  with  a 
flattened  head.  It  exists  in  many  varieties.  It  was 
cultivated    by    the    ancient    Babylonians,    Egyptians, 

[is] 


Wheat  3 

Persians,  and  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  It  has  been 
identified  in  remains  of  the  Swiss  lake  dwellers.  It  is 
still  grown  in  mountainous  Switzerland,  in  Russia 
where  it  is  used  for  a  gruel,  in  Germany,  in  Italy  and 
in  Spain.  It  is  grown  somewhat  in  the  United  States. 
The  illustration  is  of  a  Black  Winter  Emmer. 

No.  6.  Spelt,  is  usually  stated  to  be  the  oldest  of 
the  cultivated  grains  and  considered  to  have  been  the 
wheat  of  Egypt,  Greece  and  Rome,  which  is  probably 
partly  erroneous,  due  to  a  confusion  with  Emmer. 
It  was  cultivated,  however,  by  the  Romans  in  the  later 
days  of  the  Empire.  A  wild  prototype  is  not  known. 
It  is  still  grown  in  some  South  European  localities, 
particularly  in  northern  Spain. 

No.  7.  Polish  Wheat,  sometimes  called  "Jerusa- 
lem rye"  or  "Giant  rye,"  is  a  hard  wheat  of  very  char- 
acteristic appearance  due  largely  to  the  length  of  the 
papery  bracts  of  the  individual  spikelets.  The  grain 
is  elongated,  resembling  rye,  and  falls  readily  from  the 
mature  head.  In  spite  of  its  name  it  is  not  a  native  of 
Poland.  It  is  cultivated  in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  Turkes- 
tan and  in  Abyssinia.  It  is  also  introduced  into  the 
United  States,  but  to  date  is  not  of  much  economic 
importance. 

No.  8.  Poulard  Wheat  is  also  known  as  English 
Wheat,  and  a  variety  known  as  Rivet  Wheat,  is  grown 
in  England,  but  Poulard  Wheat  belongs  of  old  to  the 
dry  eastern  and  southern  Mediterranean  region.  It 
has  a  tendency  to  "sport,"  forming  branching  spikes 
or  heads  and  hence  is  variously  called  Miracle  Wheat, 
Seven-headed  Wheat  of  Egypt,  Jerusalem  Wheat,  etc. 
The  illustration  is  of  a  variety  known  as  Alaska, 
grown  in  the  United  States.  In  spite  of  the  large  size 
of  the  heads  of  the  Poulard  Wheat,  the  yield  is  not 
great  and  not  equal  in  quality  to  some  of  the  common 
wheats.     It  is  of  slight  economic  importance. 

[19] 


4  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

No.  9.  Club  Wheat  is  so  named  from  the  shape 
of  the  heads  which  are  short,  thick,  and  often  broader 
near  the  tip  than  below.  The  grain  is  soft,  the  stems 
are  short  and  stout.  It  belongs  to  rather  mild  climates 
and  the  mountainous  districts  of  Europe,  Turkestan 
and  Abyssinia.  It  is  introduced  on  this  continent, 
and  is  grown  particularly  in  Chile  and  in  the  Pacific 
and  Rocky  Mountain  States. 

No.  10.  Durum  Wheat  is  an  extremely  hard, 
flinty  wheat  from  Russia,  brought  to  the  United  States 
by  early  immigrants.  It  is  economically  important, 
as  are  those  which  follow.  The  flour  produced  from 
it  is  higher  in  gluten  and  conversely  lower  in  starch 
content  than  other  wheats  and  is  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  semolina  and  macaroni  and  other  pastes. 
For  bread  making  it  is  sometimes  mixed  with  flour  of 
the  more  starchy,  softer  wheats.  Durum  Wheat,  also, 
is  said  to  have  been  found  in  old  Egyptian  remains.  It 
is  grown  in  India,  in  Algeria,  and  is  the  principal  wheat 
crop  of  Spain.  It  is  resistant  to  rust  and  is  especially 
adapted  to  somewhat  arid  land,  being  also  resistant  to 
drought.  On  this  continent  Durum  is  grown  success- 
fully in  South  and  Central  America,  and  in  the  United 
States  in  the  Great  Plains  Area,  particularly  towards 
its  Rocky  Mountain  border.  The  illustration  is  of  the 
variety  Arnautka  which  grows  well  in  the  more  humid 
eastern  portion  of  the  Great  Plains. 

No.  11.  Turkey  Wheat,  originally  from  South 
Russia,  the  Crimea,  etc.,  is  now  the  leading  hard  winter 
wheat  of  the  United  States  and  endures  well  the  low 
winter  temperature  of  the  Northwestern  States,  except 
where  the  climate  is  very  severe,  as  in  North  Dakota. 

No.  12.  Wilhelmina,  a  stout,  soft  white  wheat 
from  Holland,  represents  a  type  of  winter  wheat  com- 
monly grown  in  North  Europe.  It  has  been  introduced 
into  the  United  States. 

[20] 


Wheat  5 

No.  13.  Pacific  Bluestem,  an  Australian  variety, 
somehow  misnamed  "bluestem,"  is  the  leading  soft 
white  spring  wheat  of  the  Pacific  area. 

No.  14.  Dicklow,  a  soft  spring  wheat  cultivated 
under  irrigation  in  Idaho  and  elsewhere,  produces  a 
remarkably  large  head.  It  was  originated  by  a  Utah 
farmer,  Dick  Low,  through  selection  from  variants  of 
a  California  Club  Wheat. 

No.  15.  Marquis  Wheat  originated  in  Canada,  by 
selection  from  hybrids  of  a  hard,  red  wheat  from  Cal- 
cutta, India,  and  Red  Fife  Wheat.  It  is  the  leading, 
hard,  red,  spring  wheat  of  the  Northern  Great  Plains 
area. 

No.  16.  Red  Fife  Wheat  is  one  of  the  principal 
hard  spring  wheats  of  the  Great  Plains  Region.  It 
originated  in  Canada  among  a  few  plants,  from  a 
sample  winter  wheat  from  Russia.  It  now  represents 
a  parent  stem  from  which  many  varieties  of  northern 
wheats  have  been  derived. 

No.  17.  Kitchener  Wheat  is  another  hard,  spring 
wheat  of  the  Red  Fife  type  from  the  plains  of  the 
Canadian  northwest. 

The  varieties  of  common  wheat  are  very  numerous. 
According  to  a  survey  by  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture over  two  hundred,  well  defined  kinds  are  recog- 
nized in  the  United  States.  There  are  bearded  and 
smooth  wheats,  hard  and  soft,  red  and  white,  spring 
and  winter,  etc.  Of  the  common  wheats  shown  in  the 
illustration  (Nos.  11  to  17)  Turkey  Wheat  is  the  only 
bristly,  bearded,  or  awned  form,  the  others  are  almost 
awnless  or  entirely  beardless.  The  well-known  divi- 
sion of  wheats  into  spring  and  winter  wheats  has 
reference  to  their  resistance  to  cold,  but  also  to  ability 
to  mature  their  seed  in  a  single,  short  growing  season. 
The  grasses  from  which  the  cereals  are  derived  are 

[21] 


6  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

perennials  while  the  cultivated  cereals  are,  on  the 
whole,  annuals.  The  ideal  climate  for  wheat  is  one 
with  a  mild  winter,  a  cool  and  moist  spring  conducive 
to  abundant  development  of  the  vegetative  part  of  the 
plant,  followed  by  a  warm,  dry  summer  for  rapid 
ripening  of  the  grain.  Wheats  which  in  their  proper 
latitudes  withstand  the  low  temperature  of  winter 
without  injury  are  known  as  winter  wheats.  True 
winter  wheats  are  "winter  annuals"  only  and  will  not 
ripen  seed  when  sown  in  the  spring.  They  are  sown 
in  the  fall,  and  germinate  and  form  roots  before  the 
onset  of  cold  weather.  Starting  in  the  spring  with  a 
partly  developed  root  system  they  make  a  vigorous, 
early  growth.  They  ordinarily  show  a  higher  yield, 
are  more  likely  to  escape  rust,  and  mature  their  grain 
earlier  than  the  spring  sown  wheats.  The  spring 
wheats  are  more  tender  varieties  that  complete  their 
growth  in  one  season  and  in  spite  of  a  later  start 
mature  their  grains.  In  northern  latitudes  only  spring 
wheats  can  be  grown.  In  mild  climates  both  spring 
and  winter  wheats  may  be  grown  from  fall  sowing. 
As  a  rule  the  hard  winter  wheats  are  more  resistant 
to  cold  than  are  the  soft,  but  all  wheats  naturally  be- 
long to  somewhat  more  moderate  climates  than  their 
northerly  relative  rye. 

Hard  and  soft  wheats  differ  in  the  composition  of 
the  grain.  The  soft  wheats  are  richer  in  starch  and 
are  likely  to  have  large  grains,  while  the  hard,  with 
smaller  grains,  are  relatively  richer  in  gluten.  Flour 
made  from  soft  wheat  is  esteemed  for  cake  and  pastry 
making,  but  by  itself  is  "weak"  and  out  of  a  given 
quantity  does  not  make  a  large  loaf.  Hard  wheats 
make  a  "strong"  flour  which,  on  account  of  the  binding 
properties  of  gluten,  retains  the  gas  produced  by  the 
yeast  and  make  a  light  loaf.  They  are  now  generally 
mixed  in  different  proportions  for  various  purposes. 

[22] 


Wheat  7 

Under  normal  conditions  the  chief  wheat-growing 
countries  in  order  of  quantity  produced  before  the 
world  war  were :  United  States,  Russia,  France,  India, 
Italy,  in  the  first  rank;  Spain,  Austria-Hungary,  Ger- 
many, in  the  second ;  followed  by  Canada,  Argentina, 
Turkey  and  the  United  Kingdom.  The  latter  is  the 
chief  importing  country.  The  order,  however,  varies 
with  the  period  considered.  The  wheat  production  of 
Canada  and  of  Argentina  has  been  steadily  rising. 
Northern  India,  China,  and  Australia  produce  wheat 
in  considerable  quantities.  In  order  of  normal  per 
capita  consumption  of  wheat,  France  came  first,  then 
New  Zealand,  Australia,  United  States,  Great  Britain, 
Austria-Hungary,  Germany  and  Canada. 

The  statement  is  not  infrequently  made  that  the 
world's  wheat  production  has  reached  its  limit,  but 
this  is  far  from  the  truth.  While  the  older  method  of 
milling  prevailed,  pulverizing  the  entire  wheat  for 
flour,  the  softer  wheats  were  preferred  and  wheat 
growing  was  largely  restricted  to  regions  producing 
them.  With  the  introduction  into  the  flour  mills  of 
the  steel  roller  process,  by  which  the  contents  of  the 
kernel  are  simply  squeezed  out  of  the  husk,  it  was 
found  that  a  most  desirable,  better  keeping  flour  could 
be  produced  from  hard,  northern  and  western  wheats. 
Wheat  growing  in  the  United  States  thereby  received 
a  great  impetus  and  the  producing  area  was  vastly 
expanded  over  the  great  plains.  By  the  opening  of 
new  regions  like  Siberia  and  by  the  introduction  of 
suitable,  perhaps  new,  varieties  such  as  undoubtedly 
will  result  from  scientifically  conducted,  systematic 
breeding  experiments,  the  world's  wheat  production 
certainly  is  capable  of  considerable  further  expansion. 

B.  E.  Dahlgren. 


[23] 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 


THE    ORIGIN    AND    CLASSIFICATION    OF    WHEATS. 

The  three  primitive  wheats  (Nos.  3,  4,  5)  are  considered  by 
one  authority  to  be  representative  respectively  of  three  groups, 
each  derived  from  a  different  wild  prototype,  viz.,  Einkorn 
group  (No.  4  only);  Emmer  group  (Nos.  5,  8,  9,  10);  Spelt 
group   (Nos.  6,  11,  12-17). 

The  generally  accepted  botanical  classification  of  wheats  is 
as  follows:  Einkorn  (Triticum  monococcum) ,  Polish  Wheat  (Tri- 
ticum polonicum) ,  Wheat  and  Spelt  (Triticum  sativum),  the  latter 
subdivided  into  three  races,  viz.,  Spelts  (T.  spelta) ,  Emmers  (T. 
dicoccum) ,  and  Wheats  (T.  tenax),  the  last  comprising  four  sub- 
races:  Poulard  Wheat  (T.  turgidum),  Durum  Wheat  (T.  durum), 
Club  Wheat  (T.  compactum),  and  Common  Wheat  (T.  aestivum), 
with  numerous  varieties. 


The  exhibits  in  the  Field  Museum  of  Wheat  and  of  other 
Cereal  Grasses  are  to  be  found  in  the  Department  of  Botany, 
Halls  25  and  28,  on  the  second  floor. 


...  ,i!  A922 


„V)G  1^  ^ 


[24] 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


3  0112  033629384 


